British Tenant Found Living With 8-Year-Old Corpse

LONDON – An inquest was opening Friday into the death of a man whose body lay in his apartment for years while another resident continued to live there.

Local authorities said workers found the body of the man, believed to be in his 70s, on a sofa after neighbors complained of a bad smell coming from the apartment in Bristol, western England.

His identity has not been released.

Police arrested the apartment's tenant after the body was found on Jan. 30, but concluded that the death had not been suspicious. It is believed the occupant, who is also in his 70s, failed to report the death because he suffers from severe mental health problems.

A spokesman for Bristol City Council said the body was thought to have lain there for at least eight years. He said the council had launched an urgent inquiry to determine how the corpse had gone unnoticed for so long.